As Maryanne Stuart reclaimed the seat of Heathcote for Labor on election night after 12 years, there was excitement among her supporters about how well the party had done even in some of the most staunchly Liberal parts of the Sutherland Shire.
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"We have brought Labor back to the Sutherland Shire and respect back to people in the northern Illawarra," she said to a cheering room at her election night party.
Heathcote's results - which showed a swing to Labor far beyond that expected from the redistribution of electoral boundaries - were an early predictor that many Liberal held areas were turning red.
And they also meant the Illawarra's reputation as a Labor stronghold was even more firmly cemented - with the ALP now comfortably holding Heathcote, Keira, Wollongong and Shellharbour with big margins.
After Saturday, the Illawarra may look like it's wall-to-wall red - except of course for the interesting bit of independent blue that Gareth Ward has held onto in Kiama - but a closer look at the booths in different suburbs across the region reveals that there's a bigger mix of green and blue in some areas.
Heathcote
The region's northernmost electorate which straddles the national park was one of its most interesting at this electorate, as it now almost equally takes in parts of the Shire and northern Illawarra.
With Sydney tree-changers attracted to the area thanks to the pandemic and working from home its demographics are shifting, while its coastal climate exposure and things like Electrify 2515 movement mean there is a strong Greens vote in parts of the seat.
This was especially evident in Austinmer, where more than 34 per cent of voters picked Greens candidate Cooper Riach as their first preference. Greens also did well in Bundeena, where candidate Cooper Riach is from, and the northern Illawarra's Coledale, Scarborough-Wombarra and Thirroul.
In many of the Illawarra booths, the Greens did better than or on par with the Liberals, a trend not repeated in the Shire.
Read more: Meet your new Heathcote MP Maryanne Stuart
Overall though, the Green vote was not as strong as in the federal election, with Mr Riach only gaining 11.33 per cent of first preferences.
As expected, the Liberals' strongest vote came from booths in the Shire - but even at Woronora Public School which was the blue party's best booth, Labor gained more of the first preferences.
This was cause for much celebration among new MP Maryanne Stuart's supporters on election night, as the electorate has been held by former Liberal MP Lee Evans since the 2011 state election when Labor lost in a landslide.
The new candidate, who lives in Engadine, got her highest share of first preference votes at Helensburgh Public School, Engadine early voting centre, St John Bosco primary school and Bulli Public School.
Keira
New Labor health minister Ryan Park won all but five of the polling places in his electorate outright, with more than 50 per cent of the first preference votes in a majority of booths.
The high profile Labor MP also increased his first preference votes overall and holds the seat of Keira with an even stronger margin than before.
His highest vote came from Russell Vale Public School, where more than two-thirds of voters selected Labor first.
At Bellambi Neighbourhood Centre, Figtree High and Tarrawanna Public School Labor's vote was also extremely strong, with more than 60 per cent of voters giving the party their first preference.
In the five places where Labor did worst (although it's worth noting that 'worst' here would, in any other area, be a very good result), it was mainly the Greens which took these votes.
The Greens best booth in Keira was Smiths Hill High School, with more than 30 per cent of votes there going to Kit Docker - perhaps a sign of the priorities of some of the high-achieving 18-year-olds (and their parents) who attend the selective school?
Other areas where a more young people live also had some of the seat's highest Greens votes - Wollongong West Public School, Wollongong Salvos in the CBD and Keiraville Public School.
For the Liberals, who only selected a candidate to run at the 11th hour, the vote was the highest in affluent areas and religious schools.
The party's highest vote - which only reached 25.43 per cent - was at Nareena Hills Public School, at the back of Figtree, followed by Mount Ousley Public School, Balgownie Village Community Centre, Edmund Rice College and Ceders Christian College.
Wollongong
The Illawarra's central electorate, which itself centres on the Port Kembla Steelworks, has almost always been Labor heartland and this election was no different.
As always, Labor MP Paul Scully's greatest level of support at this election came from the residents who live in the shadow of the region's industrial heart - Port Kembla, Warrawong and Cringila - and nearby suburbs like Berkeley.
In those working class areas, Labor's first preference vote was above 60 per cent. Mr Scully also won 22 out of 32 booths in his seat outright on first preferences.
The Liberal Party's best vote came from the Wollongong pre-polls, where young candidate Joel Johnson stationed himself for most of the days leading up to the election.
He may not have had any corflutes - with the Libs instead relying on voter recognition of Dominic Perrottet's face - but managed to attract about 28 per cent of the vote from the early voting booth.
Perhaps a sign of how those who make up their mind prior to election day vote? Or maybe a sign that pre-poll voters - who want to make sure they have easy access to a polling booth - are older and more conservative?
As for the Greens, recognisable candidate Cath Blakey attracted the region's strongest overall vote for the environmental party, with around 15 per cent of first preferences.
Her strongest support came from Keiraville and Wollongong Public Schools and Smith Hill High School - all in suburbs where a lot of university students and young people live.
Shellharbour
In a very safe Labor seat represented by MP Anna Watson, Shellharbour mayor Chris Homer provided a bit of interest this election as he tried to emulate his local government success from 2021.
However, his level of support in the state varied wildly and he didn't make too much of an impact, gaining about 20 per cent of first preference votes overall.
In individual suburbs Mr Homer's vote share went from decent - although still not enough to top Labor's primary vote - in booths in the coastal parts of the Shellharbour LGA to barely there. In the Koonawarra and Lakelands booths, for instance, minor parties like the Legalise Cannabis Party got more votes than the independent candidate.
Ms Watson's strongest support came from Dapto - at Koonawarra and Lakelands Public School - as well as Warilla and Mount Warrigal.
Overall, Shellharbour was the only Illawarra electorate to record a tiny swing away from Labor, which Ms Watson attributed to demographic changes in the electorate.
"We've got a lot of people from the eastern suburbs [of Sydney] who have built and bought in Shell Cove," she said.
"We've got Wongawilli and also West Dapto which is also a changing demographic."
With an independent and three minor party candidates running in Shellharbour, the Greens vote was much lower than the previous election. Jamie Dixon did best at the Hayes Park Public School booth, in Kanahooka, where he received just under 10 per cent of first preferences.
Kiama
Kiama MP Gareth Ward has himself described his win as "one for the history books', acknowledging the fascinating set of circumstances which were at play this election.
A split vote, between a strong Labor candidate, a Liberal-turned-independent who has been in the role for 12 years, and a last minute Liberal candidate (who ended up with roughly the same vote share as the Greens) was just one aspect of the interest.
More unusual was that the incumbent MP and eventual winner was facing rape and indecent assault charges - which he pleaded not guilty to this week and has always denied - which failed to dent his popularity among electors.
Out of 27 booths, including the four early voting centres, Mr Ward received the largest share of the first-preference votes in 18 of them.
His highest vote of around 46 per cent came from Nowra Hill Public School and Nowra early voting centre - the latter of the booth which came in last and clinched his win.
Mr Ward was beaten by Ms McInerney in many of the seats towards the north of the electorate - which are well in the historically Labor territory of the Illawarra.
Her biggest share of the vote was at Mount Terry Public School, North Kiama Community Centre and her old primary school Minnamurra Public School. She also did well at Kiama High, where she also attended, as well as the four booths located in Albion Park and Albion Park Rail and at Kiama Uniting Church.
Liberal Melanie Gibbons got the most votes at Falls Creek Public School, while the Greens did best at Berry and Kangaroo Valley.
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
